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"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." How many times have you heard that quoted? It's one of the few scriptures that have stuck in the minds of many people even outside of the faith. In my experience, Psalm 23 is one of the most commonly quoted passages of scripture, second only to John 3:16. Yet, for how much it's quoted, I rarely hear it discussed. For as beautiful of a passage of scripture as this is, I don't feel like we take the time to discuss it very often. That goes for both newer and older members of the faith. So, I'd like to remedy that. Psalm 23 is a common source of comfort for many members of the faith. On the surface, it is one of the easier psalms to read and understand. David relates God here to being like a shepherd. God guides David to "lie down in green pastures" and leads him "beside still waters." He even goes as far to say that the Lord guides him through "the valley of the shadow of death" and that He protects David with the shepherd's rod and staff. I don't know about you, but the "valley of the shadow of death" doesn't sound like a place I want to be. Yet David claims here that he has faith that God will protect him and that he has nothing to fear. David shows that his faith gives him strength and comfort in even the most dire of situations, so what do we ever have to be afraid of? With all of this in mind, though, I'm not writing this just to talk about Psalm 23. As with many things in scripture, the thing that makes this psalm so good is the parallel it has with other parts of scripture. The idea and symbolism of the shepherd is one that can be found all throughout scripture. It's one of (if not the) most common symbols for the Lord used in both the old and new testaments. All of them add onto Psalm 23 incredibly well. However, there is one that I'd like to bring up specifically. John 10:1-18 is one of my personal favorite passages of scripture. Jesus states here that the shepherd knows his sheep, and they know the shepherd. He goes as far as saying the shepherd calls them all by name. Jesus then explains that He is the "good shepherd." He is the door by which sheep enter and are saved. Psalm 23 says that the shepherd protects his flock with his staff and rod. Jesus takes this even further, saying that the good shepherd lays down his own life for the sheep. So here's the beautiful combined message. The Lord is our shepherd. He is the door by which we enter into the pasture and are saved. He leads us in paths of righteousness. He calls each of us by name, and we know His voice. He guides, guards, and protects us through all of our life's struggles, so that we may never have to fear any evil in life or death. He has laid down his life to save us. I don't know about you, but I couldn't ask more than that from my shepherd. I eagerly await the day when He calls us by name and we get to hear His voice. Do you? Ryan **Ryan Zumpano is a student at Shadyside High School. He is the the Senior Class President and President of the National Honor Society (just to name a couple of things) and will finish 2022 at the top of his class. He plans to attend college and pursue a career in Data Analytics. Ryan attends our church weekly with his family and takes an active role in our services.

Daniel 7 When I was in high school (sometime last century), I read a historical novel set in the days of the Roman empire which really captivated my mind. I don’t remember the title of the book, but the author painted a glorious picture of Rome and emphasized the good aspects of the Roman system (There was much which was good about Rome, but also a great deal which was quite bad.). This particular book came to a close with Rome being driven from the British Isles by their native peoples. This upset me quite a bit, and I remember asking my mother why the Roman empire had not continued to that day. I don’t remember her answer, but I know now that the answer to my question lay in the scriptures. In Daniel 7, we read of Daniel’s vision of four beasts which represented four kingdoms. The fourth beast is easily identified with the Roman empire which was destroyed and whose dominion was taken away primarily because of its persecution of “the saints of the Highest One” (vv 11, 21, 25-26). The Lord God did not allow it to continue because of its corrupting wickedness (Revelation 18:1-20). But Daniel, as he struggled with understanding what he saw in the visions, is shown “one like a Son of Man” receiving dominion, glory and a kingdom - one which shall not be destroyed (vv 13-14). This is Christ Jesus whose kingdom began in the days of Roman rule. Later on, Daniel is also told (v 27) that the people of God will have a share in this kingdom. This is the kingdom of God which is manifestly revealed today in the church of Christ Jesus. This kingdom is “an everlasting dominion” which “will not be destroyed.” No earthly kingdom has received such a sure future from God. Not Babylon. Not Rome. Not the Ottoman empire. Not the British empire. Not the Third Reich. Not the United States. God has set the times and boundaries of all earthly peoples (Acts 17:26), but the kingdom of His Son will have no boundary nor end. This is the only kingdom with a sure future. And what a future that is!! ><> Jeff

Matthew 5:3-12 The scriptures paint deep contrasts between the devil and his domain and the Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom. We find such descriptions as darkness and light, evil and good, wickedness and righteousness, death and life, etc. The differences are extreme. To illustrate, let’s imagine that the devil were to present us with his “beatitudes.” Perhaps they would read something like these: > Blessed are the proud and haughty, for they will help enlarge the borders of darkness and death. > Blessed are those who laugh at and ignore all the troubles and grief caused by sin, for they will find no comfort themselves. > Blessed are the stubborn and hard-hearted, for they will come away from life empty-handed. > Blessed are they who lust after and grasp for wickedness, for they will get exactly what they want. > Blessed are the unmerciful, for they will find no mercy. > Blessed are those with vile and divided hearts, for they will not see God nor what He has promised for those who love Him. > Blessed are the trouble makers, for they will be called sons of the devil. > Blessed are those who abuse and hurt others, for their end will be blackness and destruction. Quite a contrast, don’t you think? ><>Jeff

Hebrews 10:23-25 Two things have come together in our day to give us some new terminology - virtual church. We refer, of course, to the virus pandemic because of which indoor gatherings were discouraged and many businesses were closed. We, in fact, did not meet together for thirteen weeks. The other factor is technology. We are now able to view and talk with others (even in a group) on our computers, tablets, smart phones and even televisions. This is when we began to “live stream” our lessons. It was a stop-gap method to still preach the word and stay in touch without jeopardizing lives. But what was an emergency response to a dangerous situation has now become for many Christians a new way to do church - “virtual church.” In your living room, listen to the preacher’s lesson, maybe say a prayer, perhaps take the Lord’s supper by yourself and “Walla!” - you have virtual church. How easy is that?! Do you think this is what God had in mind for His followers? By definition, virtual is not the real thing. The word translated “church” is the Greek ekklesia which means a group called out into an assembly. Church is an assembly or a gathering. The Hebrews’ author exhorted his readers not to forsake assembling together because of the current persecution. Note what he says was missing when they didn’t gather together. They were to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds.” There was to be an “encouraging” of one another. I’m not sure today’s church has learned yet that these things are an important part of our assembling together. But they certainly are not possible when the congregation is sitting at home in their “jammies.” (There is more to be said on this topic.) When you are sick, recuperating from surgery, in quarantine, etc., being able to hear the word and keep in touch with the congregation via technology is a plus. But such an arrangement was not the Lord’s idea for “assembling together.” ><> Jeff

Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 43:13 Before the beginning there was nothing ... except God. When we say nothing, we mean NOTHING! This is difficult for us space and time travelers to comprehend. When we consider this “before the beginning” situation, we probably think of God just “floating” around in space somehow. But this is an incorrect picture. There was no “space” as we know it. How do we know? The word says that God “created the heavens.” This is the “space” where He put everything. The heavenly bodies came later on day four. So, before the beginning, we have God in eternity - the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And at some point they make a decision - to create a creature with whom they can share their life and love (Ephesians 1:4-5). In order to do that, they had to make a place for this creature to live. So, the heavens and the earth are created. This scenario prompts a truckload of questions in us, but we wish to consider two thoughts about God Himself - His wisdom (intelligence) and His power. We have all designed and made things in our day. As kids, we drew pictures, made ornaments for the Christmas tree, or folded paper airplanes. Later on, we planted vegetable gardens, decorated cakes, built a bookshelf, did craft work, etc. But in none of these things did we imagine something entirely new. We copied and replicated things or parts of things in existence already. Not so with God. He imagined and designed things which had never existed before! From the vast and enormous to the minute and intricate, He designed. We can only stand in awe of a Mind which could imagine and design an entire eco-system with 1000's of perfectly interacting kinds of living things. And then, He had the power to bring them all into existence from nothing - just by speaking! “Then God said, ‘Let...’” And whatever God envisioned and called into existence came to be just as He planned it - all dancing in perfect rhythm. Consider God and His wondrous works.

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 Isaiah prophesies of “My servant” who is to come. We understand this figure to be the Messiah, and the prophecy finds its fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth who was made Lord and Christ. This is not a “happy” passage of scripture, but it provides for hope and joy in our relationship with God. More than any other it gives insight into the life and death of God’s Servant and the effect which He would have upon people, even upon kings. He still has the same effect today. Over half of the passage deals with the Servant’s making “a guilt offering” for sin (v 10). We know this to be Jesus’ sacrifice on His cross for the sins of the world. When we contemplate Jesus’ cross, especially around the Lord’s Table, we usually focus upon the painful suffering Jesus endured by way of crucifixion. It was an agonizing death to be sure. And our Isaiah passage speaks of physical torment: “pierced...crushed...chastening...scourging.” We do not want to minimize the physical pain of the crucifixion, but it is a mistake to believe that the physical suffering of Jesus is what brought us redemption. After all, countless Christians later died on crosses for their faith at the hands of the Romans. In three places (vv 6, 11, 12), Isaiah writes of the Lord’s laying upon His Servant the iniquity and sin “of us all.” This seems to be more than an academic transference in God’s mind, and Peter (1:2:24) writes that Jesus “bore our sins in His body on the cross.” We cannot begin to imagine the agony of bearing the iniquity of the entire world at one time and being under the wrath of God for such. And the prophet tells us that it brought about another kind of suffering. Isaiah tells of “the anguish of His soul” (v 11) and that “He poured out Himself [Lit His soul] to death, and was numbered with the transgressors” (v 12). An innocent Son of Man suffering the physical agony of crucifixion, bearing the iniquity of the human race under the hand of God, providing the justification of many - this is the cross of God’s Servant, Christ Jesus our Lord. ><>Jeff

John 5:39-40 A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they started to have a good conversation. They talked about a great many and varied subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: “I don’t believe that God exists.” “Why do you say that?” asked the customer. “Well, you just have to go out on the street to realize that God doesn’t exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, would there be so much abuse, suffering and pain? I can’t imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.” The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond because he did not want to get into an argument. The barber finished, and the customer left the barbershop. When the man had stepped outside, he saw a man walking in the street who had long, stringy, matted hair and a scraggly beard. He was dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again, and he said to the barber: “You know what? Barbers do not exist.” “How can you say that?” responded the surprised barber. “I am right here, and I’m a barber. And I just worked on you!” “No!” the customer exclaimed. “Barbers do not exist because if they did, there would be no people with long, stringy hair and untrimmed, scraggly beards like that man outside in the street.” “Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is that people do not come to me for my services.” “Exactly!” affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist. What happens is that people don’t go to Him for instruction about life and loving one another. That’s one huge reason there is so much pain and suffering in the world.” – Adapted Jesus said it first. (Surprise, surprise!) Read our scripture. ><> Jeff

Exodus 12:1-2 If you are reading this, then God has brought us into another year, as we count years these days. We know that the Almighty oversees the ebb and flow of life on planet Earth, but sometimes in the hustle and bustle of living we tend to forget that truth. When the Lord was about to free Israel from captivity in Egypt, He changed their calendar. Following the ninth plague and as He was about to give instructions to Moses and Aaron about the Passover meal and the tenth plague, He told them: “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.” Freed from captivity after 430 years, Israel would be traveling through the wilderness, enter into a covenant with the Lord, receive His law, conquer Canaan, and dwell in the land promised to their forefather Abraham. Truly, it was a new beginning. As we stand on the brink of a new year, let us reflect on where we have been and where we are now. The previous two years have brought us difficulties and set-backs to which we’ve had to adjust. We experienced several deaths in our congregation, in our families and among our friends. Some of our members moved away including an elder. The COVID-19 seriously disrupted things. Many of us had to endure the virus with symptoms of varying degree. As a result of the pandemic, we discontinued ministries and classes. A few of our members have stayed away. And the virus is still hanging around. As you know, we are in the process of regrouping and refocusing on the will of God, His purposes for us, and how best for us here to accomplish those purposes. Our Sunday morning Bible classes and the eldership are our first concerns. Other ministries and works and what they will “look like” are quite undecided. As we as a congregation begin a new year - 2022, let us consider that we also are experiencing a new beginning. Pray that God will show us the way, and that we will have the courage and zeal to follow Him. ><> Jeff

Ephesians 1:3-6 Paul writes to the saints at Ephesus that God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Most Christians can rattle off a whole string of material blessings from God, but can name only of few of these spiritual blessings which are available only in Christ Jesus. These blessings are priceless and have eternal significance. How many spiritual blessings can you name without looking at the list below? Here are just some of the spiritual blessings found in Christ: $ Eternal life $ Redemption from one’s debt to God $ Forgiveness of sins $ Continual cleansing of Christ’s blood $ Reconciliation to God $ Adopted sons of God $ An eternal inheritance with Christ Jesus $ Privileged to wear the name of Christ - Christian $ Gift of the Holy Spirit $ The fruit of the Spirit in and through us $ Prayers are heard and answered $ In the kingdom of God’s beloved Son $ Intercession by Christ and the Holy Spirit in our prayers $ Power to put to death the deeds of the flesh $ Spiritual wisdom and understanding to know God’s will $ Peace of Christ $ Members of the body of Christ $ Fellowship with the Father and the Son $ The discipline of the Father $ Jesus shepherds us How many more can you think of? We are truly blessed in our Lord and Savior Jesus! ><> Jeff

John 11:1-15 In order to soften the blow of the meaning of certain words, we have learned to use euphemisms. For example, a man does not commit adultery, but he “has an affair.” A woman does not lie, but she “stretches the truth” or “fibs a little bit.” A person doesn’t sin, but they “make mistakes.” In using such phrases, we try to make things seem not so bad. This isn’t always a good thing. One euphemism which we all seem to use is when a person dies we say that they passed away. Years ago, I used this phrase, but I have stopped using it (sometimes it still slips out) because I think it is misleading and uncharacteristic of the reality of the situation, and suggests an end of the line condition. Here’s my point: What does it mean to pass away? You might say: We all know it means to die. Maybe, but what does it suggest? Away where? Beyond the sky? Away to Never-Never Land? Into some mystical somewhere? Into nothingness? Away into non-existence? To me this phrase must have been coined by atheists or pure materialists because it indicates there is nothing more. There are two phrases which I have begun using (euphemisms if you will) which conform with reality. One is “passed on.” The individual who has died has passed on into the next life. The other is “crossed over.” The person who is deceased has crossed over into another dimension. These work a lot better for me. The scriptures, especially the New Testament, repeatedly use the word sleep (asleep, sleeping, etc.) to refer to those who have died. We have studied in one of our classes about whether this is to be taken literally or would be simply a euphemism for death. Even Jesus spoke of Lazarus being asleep. It’s worth your while to get out your concordance and read and ponder these passages. Words have meaning. Softening the intensity of the meaning of some words in certain situations may be desirable, but we still need to be careful to use words which conform to reality. ><> Jeff

Ecclesiastes 7:14 (Continued from last week) Some of the “pieces” of our lives are bright, lovely and filled with joy. Some “pieces” are dark, ugly and full of anguish. But according to our God, they are all necessary to shape us into the people that He wants us to be and that we need to be. Peter is quite clear - our faith will be tested like gold being refined in the fire (1 Peter 1:6-7). Will our faith be found to be genuine? Are we steadfast in our love for the Lord? Do we persevere through our trials? Someone has said that life is very much about how you handle plan B. Someone else has said if you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain. Life certainly isn’t all trouble and heartache. Thank the Lord! We have blessings abundant, especially the spiritual blessings which no man can take from us. But we can fail to see them, appreciate them, and cherish them. We should not be like the type of person whom I’ve encountered more than once. When I’ve remarked about the beautiful, sunny day we were enjoying, their response was: “Yeah, but it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.” Go figure. Your life (mine, too) is being put together one “piece” at a time. As you grow older, you can begin to get a clearer picture of what God has been doing with you. However, I don’t believe we’ll have the entire picture until God shows it to us in the next life. What a glorious day that will be! But while you’re still here, enjoy the blessings of God. Look for the good. Persevere through the adversities. Walk with the Lord. Rejoice in His goodness. Hold to His promises. And trust that one day you will see the beautiful picture of your life which you and He are putting together “piece by piece.” ><> Jeff

Ecclesiastes 7:14 During the pandemic last year, Shirley and I took to doing jigsaw puzzles. Perhaps you did as well. It was a very popular activity while staying inside, as we found out, for more than once we tried to order another puzzle or two and found them to be out of stock. We find doing jigsaw puzzles to be relaxing, one way to keep our minds sharp, and something to do together. As I have pondered over many of these puzzles, the thought would always come to me that life is like a jigsaw puzzle. There are many different pieces showing small parts of the whole picture. There are pieces with very different colors. There are pieces with very different shapes. As the pieces are fitted together, the final picture begins to become clear. At any stage of assembling the puzzle, however, the image presented can seem rather ugly, even bizarre. Not until the puzzle’s completion does the detail and full beauty of the figure as intended by the artist or photographer become evident. Every life, yours and mine, is a series of “pieces” being fitted together. Every day is a piece. Every event is a piece. Every decision is a piece. Every person who comes into our lives is a piece of our personal puzzle. Every blessing from God is a piece. Every adversity is a piece. Every book read. Every sermon heard. Every prayer offered. Every good deed. Every kind word. Every failure. All of these and more are coming together to create a picture of your life, and, more importantly, to shape you into the person that you are. As God (the Designer) works with everyone of us, we often wonder what He is doing. We look for the good, the joy, the blessings. We expect people to do what’s right and to tell the truth. (By the way, those are arguments for the existence of God.) But, as you know, it doesn’t always happen that way. The Preacher wrote: “In the day of prosperity, be happy, but in the day of adversity consider - God has made the one as well as the other so that man will not discover anything that will be after him.” (Continued next time.)